I was recently in Manila, reading the Manila Bulletin at a cafe. It was interesting to read the results of their 4th Renewable Energy Auction. Reserve prices were set as follows:
- P4.1480/kWh – ground mounted solar – 11c/kWh AUD
- P4.7679/kWh – rooftop solar – 13c/kWh AUD
- P5.9515/kWh – floating solar – 17c/kWh AUD
- P5.2835/kWh – solar + BESS – 15c/kWh AUD
- P6.5134/kWh – onshore wind – 18c/kWh AUD
(Manila Bulletin 16/4/25)
These prices are quite high as compared to Australian renewable projects and the market is wholly privatised, supplied mainly by Meralco. A retail bill for an apartment is included here for comparison to Australia.
The rate paid here is P13.17/kWh (37c/kWh AUD) and the grid emissions intensity was 0.0006935t CO2e/kWh (very similar to NSW at 0.64t CO2e/MWh -NSW EPA 2023), reflecting a significant share of coal and gas in the Philippines energy mix but an increasing share of renewables. By comparison, in Sydney, in the Ausgrid network I’m charged 21c/33c/44c/kWh for off-peak/shoulder/peak energy, with an average rate of an 26c/kWh based on recent consumption with some of the peak and shoulder displaced by solar output. Whilst this is a random comparison and not necessarily representative as the energy rate may include all the distribution charges, it would appear that Filipino households are paying a fair amount for electricity, especially when you compare a measure such as GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) of $40,316 USD in Australia vs $3,779 USD in the Philippines (Australian vs Philippines Economy Stats Compared)